


Avisa a Ludmilla Que É Hoje

by seawtch



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Brazilian!Lance, International Student AU, M/M, University AU, cause im brazilian i kno hes cuban but honestly, so there is some light mentions of emotional abuse but it is not a main thing so dw, theres mentions of drinking, this entire thing is no beta-ed but i will be going over all chapters and fixing mistakes soon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-29
Updated: 2017-11-30
Packaged: 2018-08-27 18:26:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 15,973
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8411881
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seawtch/pseuds/seawtch
Summary: Lance McClain is excited to start his studies abroad.Moving overseas? A true Hollywood movie worthy plot. If it wasn't for his cute competitive neighbor.Or the annoying smart kid. Or the sweet intelligent boy next door. Or the bad-ass girl down the hall. And their messy bathroom.------------------------------------------------------currently going under revisions





	1. Vai Me Enterrar Na Areia?

**Author's Note:**

> hey everyone this is my first fanfiction since 2009 and i hope you enjoy it. my writing is a bit unstable but it should improve as we go. im an international brazilian student so this fic is very important to me. enjoy it <3

            _This cannot be happening. It must be a joke._ Keith Kogane was a patient young man. Sort of. He stared at the light blue door in front of him. It was the beginning of a new school year and he was back into the old and dusty building that served as accommodation for students in the university. This wasn’t a place he missed, with its constant smell of humidity and the cheap furniture that was worse for wear. Although he wasn’t excited by the prospect of the place, it wasn’t used much anymore, becoming quite calm compared to the in-town building most students stayed at. Calm and quiet. _If only:_ quiet was the opposite of his floor. He took a deep breath; this was just the beginning of his year in this place and he definitely did not want to stir someone's rage, especially when they had access to his food storage and his bathroom. And so maybe he had been standing in front of the door for the last five (or was it ten) minutes, debating if he should knock the stranger’s door - _not a stranger. His new neighbor -_ and politely ask him to turn the volume down.

            **_“Pra ter sucesso amor tem que fazer direito!_**

**_Eu já falei que eu sou top, que eu sou poderosa!_ **

**_Veja o que eu vou ter falar! EU SOU A DIVA QUE VOCÊ QUER COPIAR!”_ **

            What kind of music was this anyway? Way too loud and way too annoying. And he couldn’t recognize the language, was it Spanish? The volume was giving him a slight headache, and possibly be heard from across the entire town. Keith had never been a fan of upbeat and fast music, although his brother had been a massive pop and techno-swing music fan. His mother had tried to encourage him in exploring different genres he had just been prone to dislike, as he put it, 'sound pollution'.  

            Keith knocked softly on the door a few times, but received no reply. He'd dealt with troublesome flatmates before, this wasn't anything new. That went on for a while, until stressed with the current situation, his indecision, the music playing and the flatmate singing along in a tone higher than the actual music, he punched the door. The person inside stopped singing and the music got turned off. A few seconds of silence passed and he heard shuffling inside the room.

            And in one swift motion, the door struck his face.

            “Oh Jesus dude, you alright?”

            _You gotta really be shitting me_. His new roommate was a tall boy with tanned skin and black, no wait. Blue eyes. “Are you ok? Oh man. Dude you’re bleeding all over my entrance.” He said pointing casually to the blood on Keith’s hand slowly dripping into the carpet.

            “Yeah, I’m fine.”

            “Aham, sure, come on in I got some gauze. Sorry about that, apparently every other door swings towards the outside unlike my home’s door which I keep forgetting.” He said in a rush, moving quickly back into the room, door left wide for Keith to come in. Apparently there was no way of backing off and thus the boy turned back to give him a pointed look. Keith had an increasing suspicion by the way his eyes glinted he was ready to start laughing. He turned his back to Keith again and rummaged through some canvas bags that laid underneath his desk. Definitely not a cool way to start the year. “Name’s Lance McClain by the way, second year transfer. What about’cha?”

            “Keith Kogane. I’m a second year. Actually I just came here to-”

            “Found it!” Lance interjected while spinning around in a little victory dance. In his hands there was a first aid kit. “Mom is like an owl, so overprotective. She sent like, 20 packages of first aid. Honestly you’d think parents would grow out of this when it’s their second kid leaving the nest but apparently not. Especially when the first one to leave is a girl and all shit, but I guess Camilla only moved to my grandma's house and not another country. Here, take it.” He handed Keith the gauze.

            “Uh, thanks.” Keith was left a bit speechless—how could this guy speak so fast without breathing? He felt uncomfortable as Lance kept rambling on about family and tuned out while cleaning the blood off his face. He looked around Lance’s room, and it was impossible they had the same standard tiny little beige room. Lance’s walls were covered in pictures and football flags. Clothes were everywhere and an old stereo sat on top of his desk. There was not one square centimeter not covered by one thing or another. Some golden trophies sat on top of his shelf, next to a plushie of Tigger the tiger. The bed covers were from an old version of Power Rangers and next to his bed laid a football ball. But the most peculiar thing was a small statue of the holy virgin next to his bed.

            “It’s from my grandma’s congregation, a protection gift,” Lance explained with a smug smile, while Keith blushed. _What?_

            “T-that’s nice.” Keith stammered, embarrassed about displaying interest in a very personal item of a stranger. It wasn’t his place to be prying at people’s belongings anyway.

            “So.” Lance said, plopping down on the desk chair. He wiggled his eyebrows up “What brings such a pretty boy on my door? It’s a bit too early to be confessing your crush on me”.

            _Someone slap me, I must be having a nightmare._

“I live next door. And I’m here because your screaming could be probably be heard from the town entrance you know.” Keith said through gritted teeth. Maybe Keith Kogane was not such a patient person after all. First this guy sung off key for two hours straight, then smashed his nose against the door and now acted like its not big deal. This was ridiculous. “So I knocked in hope that maybe you’d understand some of us are tired from a five hour trip and just want to rest before getting thrown back into the chaos they call education.”

            “Hey, hey now, you can’t simply offend a guy’s singing skills and just expect him to do your bidding ya?” Lance said, lifting his hands up in a defensive manner. His entire body moved as he spoke, gesticulating dramatically. “Also I just had a eighteen hour plane flight plus two hours and a half by train so honestly. Don’t even get me started on the cab ride, so what are you complaining about?”

            “Eighteen hours?”

            Lance gave a hearty laugh and leaned his face on his hands. Keith stare dumbfounded at him, not understanding if the words had another implication. _Or maybe I got a concussion?_

            “Well yeah, weren’t you paying attention? I just said I moved overseas.”

            “Oh, yeah. Uh I guess?” Keith muttered. He didn’t really want to be here having this conversation. This visit was strictly business: he aimed to get his ridiculous and flamboyant new flatmate to stop screaming so he could have a nice nap and ignore all other inhabitants like he’s done for the past year.

            “So?”

            “So what?”

            Lance leaned in closer to his face and gave an adorable toothy smile. _Wait. What the fuck Keith? Did the slam affect your brain?_ He leaned back into the wall of the bed he was sitting on and glared at his lanky neighbor. A few second of silence and Lance’s expression dropped to a crestfallen look.

            “I mean, aren’t you curious about where I’m from? With my melodic accent and good looks and nice dance moves and sparkling personality?” Lance said, a small pout on his lips as he spun the chair around, like an annoyed child who didn’t get his way.

            “Well, my main guess is probably from hell with that music.”

            “Wow! Rude much? What died after biting you in the ass man?”

            Keith sighed and gave in to his antics. He realized he had not a single clue about what was going on and Lance didn’t seem like he was going to let it go so easily. Which meant not leaving anytime soon. “I have no idea. Somewhere not from here obviously. Or any country where they teach their kids manners.”

            Lance blinked twice and huffed. Who the hell did this guy thought he was anyway? Acting all high and mighty and with the ‘better-than-you’ attitude.

            “Ok, like that was totally xenophobic you know? I mean if I’d guess where you come from based on your clothes I’d say you came out of the dumpster but my mom actually taught me some manners.”

       Keith gritted his teeth and gave him a glare. Honestly was it so much to ask for a decent, normal flatmate? Lance noticed how he gripped the gauze a little tighter and quickly changed the subject. “A-Anyways… Take a guess!”

            “... Italy?”

            Lance stopped for a second and Keith felt uncomfortable under the incredulous look he gave him. Geography was never his forte. _Shiro would probably know. He’d be able to tell straight away._ This boy had quite penetrating blue-black eyes and the way he looked made Keith feel as if he could literally look through him. And like it came, the tension disappeared as Lance howled with laughter, holding his sides.

            “What the hell dude? For real?”

            “Look I don’t know. I don’t care. But based on the way you almost hit everything while talking gives you away.”

            “Well,” he started and leaned back and pointed to the wall behind him. “You’re really off. Like a continent off, a language off, a culture off. If my geography teacher heard you right now he’d be chucking chalk at your head man.”

            Keith looked behind him; an immense Brazilian flag covered the expanse of the wall. How did he not notice that before? So he must have been speaking Portuguese. That explained all the football paraphernalia in Lance’s room. “Anyways, the singer you offended is basically our Beyoncé so I’d hold my tongue if were you ‘cause she kick your ass into next year with only one leg.”

            Keith got up and walked towards the door, he didn't want to start anything with the boy. He was going to leave now, have a nice nap, wake up and call Pidge to complain about his new neighbor, then maybe have some dinner. Pidge would probably laugh their ass off at the current situation, Keith the introvert pinned in a room with his new annoying, lively flatmate. Yeah, that sounded really nice right now. 

            “Ei, ei, ei!! Where are you going?” Lance yelped, quickly getting up. “It’s rude to just leave mid-conversation you know. Also you didn’t thank me for the gauze. Or actually said goodbye. That’s really rude, I guess hospitality is just too much to ask of the northern hemisphere, né?”

            “Look Lance,” Keith turned around before closing the door. “No offense to you but I’m tired. And I’d appreciate if you respected other people’s wishes for peace and quiet, like a proper civilized university student. This flat is going to get busy soon and I'd rather not have to deal with unnecessary drama around. We are all just students trying to get by. So yeah, thanks for the gauze and all that.  And for smashing my nose. Bye.”

            With that he marched back into his room, alone with peace at last. Keith threw himself on the bed, which only held a simple red duvet and a couple of pillows without cases. He didn’t know what to think about his new neighbor, he seemed like an annoyance but after their talk he hopefully wouldn’t repeat today’s happenings. _Ah, I still have to call Shiro and tell him I’ve gotten here fine…_ But sleep sounded like the most pleasurable thing he’d have in his entire life and he could feel the drowsiness slowly taking over.

            **“ _Piririn, piririn, piririn_**

**_Alguém ligou pra mim_ **

**_Piririn, piririn, piririn_ **

**_Alguém ligou pra mim_ **

**_Quem é?_ **

**_Sou eu Bola de Fogo_ **

**_E o calor ta de matar_ **

**_Vai ser na praia da Barra_ **

**_Que uma moda eu vou lançar_ ”**

**“LAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANCE!!!!!”**

          So maybe, this year would be a bit louder.

 


	2. E.T. de Varginha

            “ _ I’m telling you Shiro, he keeps singing until four in the morning and he just won’t stop. Does he even sleep? Humans need sleep, but he goes to bed after me and is up when I go have breakfast. I swear to God Shiro, he just gives me an innocent smile as if he doesn’t pull all that crap the whole night.” _

__ Lance McClain saw himself as a charismatic young man. Parent, grandparents, cousins, friends and friends of friends all agreed he was charming and funny in his own enthusiastic and ditzy way. Someone not liking him was also never an issue, he have had quite a few rivals and enemies during high school. But the way his new flatmate spoke about him (was he on phone?) made his stomach drop a little. He didn’t mean to be so loud, it was just the way things were at home, with music playing all the time and people shouting and just the familiar noise.

           He missed home.

           Leaving home was exciting with all the new possibilities that living alone abroad brought. It was the topic of many family discussions for months. His grandmother would cry justa t the mention of it, as would his uncles, cousins, and younger sister. Lance had brushed it all off as empty nest syndrome. The emptiness he felt at the university hall shocked him, everything was so silent, cold and it drove him crazy. Call it a cultural shock but not having a cake waiting for him at the kitchen for the first time in his twenty one years he had cried. So yes, maybe he played music at ungodly hours and at the maximum volume so he could feel a bit more like home.

           “ _ WHAT?!! I’M NOT OBSESSED!!! Listen to me Shiro, he’s impossible.” _

           Lance giggled and turned around to face the wall between them. He had found Keith a nice person actually, just by the way he looked at everything with inquisitive eyes. Of course, he had been extremely rude last week on their first meeting but it was not as if Lance didn’t smash his nose and purposely kept playing loud music. During the week where they both lived more or less alone in the hall (Lance had moved in two weeks prior to everyone so he could settle down and get acquainted with the town) and didn’t speak much. There were only a few encounters on the kitchen and Lance never saw Keith in the bathroom ( _ probably different shower times _ ).

           “ _ Anyway how is mom doing? Oh I see, yeah that’s great. Make sure she’s eating enough and not overworking herself.” _

__ Lance got up and put on his flip-flops, as he decided it was time for a coffee and maybe some toast.  He heard Keith saying something again and smiled. The guy didn’t realize he was as loud as Lance when he wanted to be. He opened the kitchen door and headed for the kettle. The kitchen was quite big comparing to the actual bedroom sizes, with two long tables, two sinks and a fridge. Everything was as run down as the rest of the building, but the kitchen smelled like either hot chocolate or coffee constantly. Lance whistled the tune of the Pokémon opening in a low tone as he waited for the water to boil.

           “Uh, h-hey.”

           He turned around and Keith was standing there, in shorts and a huge Dark Souls sweater.  _ That makes no sense at all, is he not freezing?  _ Lance lifted his eyebrows and gave him a look. “Afternoon bro.”

           Keith turned red under his stare and looked away as he headed towards the fridge. Lance stared at him through the corner of his eyes and almost choked on his saliva as Keith opened a milk carton and drank straight from it.

           “EEEEEEEEEEEEEEW! Man what the hell!” Lance shrieked and Keith turned to him, wiping his mouth with his sleeve.

           “What?”

           “Dude you just, you can’t just chug milk from the container. What if is spoiled or something? Oh my god that is disgusting.”

           Keith gave him a pointed look.

           “I drink quick enough for that to not be a problem.” He explained he passed by Lance to grab a bowl and a cereal box. “Also it’s bad ethic to judge’s someone eating habits you know.”

           Lance gave a little huff and sat on the counter as he finished his coffee and took a bite of the toast. Keith grabbed his bowl and sat by the end of one of those tables. It was the first time the two sat together for longer than five minutes.

           “So,” Lance started, stirring the coffee. “You never told me what course you’re on.”

           Keith looked up at Lance, milk moustache painted on his face as he pondered why his flatmate would be doing small talk. Maybe he was trying to make up for last week. Maybe if Keith became a bit closer to him his ears would be taken in consideration.

           “I’m doing Aerospace Engineering, second year. Also taking a course in Myths and Cultural Legends.”

           “Oh wow, that’s cool. I’m doing Mechanic Engineering.”

           Keith’s spoon fell and he gave Lance an incredulous look.

           Lane was used to that, people would take in his extroverted personality and fondness of humour and just assume he’d be doing a bachelors in an ‘easy’ subject. He actually was quite a hard worker and although did not do so well in chemistry and physics, was really good with math. 

          They both stared at each other in silence, for a moment not uncomfortable at all. 

         “So you want to be an astronaut?”

          Keith huffed and shoved another spoonful before replying. “I don’t make the height cut. Missed by centimeters, so I’m going to build space ships.” 

         “Ah that’s too bad man, I bet you’d look great as a big human balloon. Stepping on the moon and all that.” Lance said, sitting down in the chair next to him. Keith mumbled something that sounded awfully like “ _ The moon landing was fake” _ and Lance snorted in his hand. “I mean you have to be really smart to work for those big shot companies like NASA and JAXA and Roscosmos. Not to mention pluri-linguistic. Do you like, speak russian?” 

        “No. Also that is a worry for after I get my masters.” Keith said and leaned his arm against the table to support his head. “Why Mechanical Engineering?”

        “Because it pays well.” 

         Keith gave him a glare and Lance kicked his feet on top of the table, leaning the chair backwards. 

         “You’re lying.” 

         “Am I now? My parents are investing a lot of money in my education. The sort of education they couldn’t afford and I gotta pay them back somehow. Make sure they can live comfortably, get old healthy and all that.” Lance explained. “I want to be a person they’re proud of, and it was my dad’s dream. I was good at it. So why not?” 

         The room fell into a comfortable silence after that and Keith turned back to eating his cereal. He pondered about what Lance just told him. That feeling of wanting to make his family proud, to be able to make sure his family was in a good financial situation, those were all things that Keith could share. Lance closed his eyes and rocked his chair back and forth slowly and Keith thought he looked peaceful, something unexpected for someone who was so loud and took so much space. 

         “That’s a great reason.” Keith muttered and Lance opened one eye. 

         A beautiful moment ruined by the sound of a scream. 

         Both boys looked at each other in alarm and rushed outside the kitchen to see what was going on. Down by the hall and in front of Keith’s door a pair of legs could be seen, the person’s torso smashed by two large suitcases. They were massive, in a disgusting lime green, covered in the most ridiculous U.F.O.s stickers Lance had ever seen. 

         “Dude are you ok? Oh my god, Keith we need to help.”

         Keith on the other hand burst into laughter and held his sides, leaving Lance staring dumbfounded at him, hands gripping on the sides of the luggage. 

         “Oh my god Pidge, why the fuck did you carry these all by yourself?” He managed to say in-between giggles.

         “KEITH SHUT UP! HELP! These are really heavy.” Pidge responded with a muffled yell. They were quite petite, wearing a pair of Timberland boots and a huge grey hoodie. Both Lance and Keith quickly worked to get everything off of them and Pidge sat up with a groan, rubbing their back. They picked the glasses that fell next to their head and turned to give Keith a glare. 

         “I have tiny ninny little guess here that you guys know each other, but you know, might just be my imagination.” Lance said and crossed his arms. Pidge turned around to give him a pointed look. Keith extended his hand to help them up but they swatted his hand away and got up by themselves. 

         “Yes this ass was supposed to pick me up from the bus station today. But clearly he had more important plans.” They said while brushing dust off their pants. “Honestly Keith, I ask you for one favor, help me find the building and carry my stuff up. I bet you were just there eating cereal and chugging milk.”

         “Hey I was actually very busy with important things.” Keith replied.

         “You have milk moustache smartass.” Pidge sighed and Lance stifled a giggle. They turned their attention to him and gave a small smirk. “I’m Pidge Holt by the way. Keith’s childhood neighbor and all that.”

         “Oh? Name’s Lance. Keith’s new university neighbor and all that.” He grinned, extending his hand for Pidge who shook it with a strong grip. 

         Keith looked a bit alarmed on the sideline. Even as kids Pidge always got that look on their face when they were scheming something, which was probably neither good nor legal. They had that exact look on right now and god forbid Lance wouldn’t even see it coming. A shudder went through his spine at the memory of the last Holt Incident. He never wanted to see a police officer or confetti ever again. Pidge and Lance seemed to settle in a comfortable small talk and Keith dragged their stuff into their room. He threw himself into the bare mattress and sighed. Pidge’s arrival day was originally scheduled to be in two days and he had completely forgotten that Shiro told him he’d be coming a couple days earlier. 

        “Hey get your ugly ass out of my bed Keith, you’re gonna stain it with your hair dye.” Pidge stated, entering the room and giving his leg a light kick. 

        “It’s natural. You’ve known me for 17 years dumbass, I’ve never dyed my hair.” Keith muttered, rolling to the side.

        “As if. I still remember the flaming red Keith.” They sing sang and avoided the foot punch aimed for their head. Lance’s head popped from behind the door and he smirked. 

        “Oh? Flaming head Keith?”

        Pidge threw their backpack on top of Keith’s head and his ‘Don’t you dare!’ scream got muffled by it. “This average annoying guy there wasn’t always plain bread. About six years ago, someone got very invested in My Chemical Romance and Green Day, and decided to get red ombré highlights. But that same person fell asleep with the dye on and ended up redder than the communist flag. But he didn’t wanna cut it right of because the dye cost like 15 bucks. And after a month like that he decided to cut his own hair! And that’s how that disgusting mullet was born.” 

       “Shut up Pidge. At least I’m not the one with the vintage Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle t-shirt collection.” Keith said, throwing the backpack on the floor.

       “I can’t believe this. Did you really gave yourself a bad haircut and just not fix it for six years?” Lance asked giggling. 

       Keith shrugged and sat up. The room fell in comfortable silence as Pidge started to unlock their suitcases and pull stuff out. Lance was thoroughly impressed with the amount of books on aliens, space and cryptids that fit inside the biggest bag. There were all kinds of computer paraphernalia mixed with an even larger number of silly t-shirts and hoodies. They took some posters with sayings like “I want to believe” and “Bigfoot Hunting Association” and left it to the side. Lance snorted when he saw those. 

      “I can’t believe you actually believe this kinda stuff.”

      There was a silence in the room. Lance noticed the sudden drop in temperature as both other occupants in the room turned to stare at him. The way their heads turned in synchrony was probably the creepiest bit. 

      “This kinda stuff?” Pidge muttered.

      “Are you telling me you don’t believe aliens are real?” Keith asked slowly and Lance felt like a cornered animal, ready to be eaten alive by lions. A wrong answer here could cost everything.

      “I mean, it’s kinda silly. Like alien might be tiny bacteria but the whole alien thing is just too silly to actually believe in.” Lance McClain was a young man with no notion of safety. That was definitely the wrong answer because both of them gasped at the same time and proceeded to yell all kinds of different explanations about why he was wrong at the same time. Lance sweated and slowly backwards towards the door. Pidge launched themselves towards him and grabbed his legs. 

      “Oh no, you’re not leaving here until you understand how aliens and cryptids are real. We can start by a basic concept like the Illuminati ‘cause that’s more mainstream and easier for newcomers.”

      Lance McClain should learn some more social cues. 


	3. Hoje é Festa Lá No Meu Apê

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oie people, im half way dead w my game design course so forgive me for taking so long to update.   
> i keep listening to this and i suggest so should u:   
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Vpxp538vfs

         “I love you Hunk, and did anyone tell you that you’ve got the softest hands? They’re like a child’s but bigger. Tão macias.”

         It was finally the first week of class and that meant one thing: Fresher’s week. Most students in their second year didn’t bother with such things, the regrets of their own fresher’s week still fresh like an open wound (no pun intended). But Lance did not have his own last year (the university he studied at had a reputation for its extreme freshmen week’s traditions and he was not willing to risk it) and thought it’d be fun to do so in a ‘safer’ environment. Which resulted in the current situation Keith walked into: Lance, looking very drunk while wearing black jeans shorts and cowboy boots, with his arms swung around the other new international kid’s shoulder (Hunk something, Keith recalled, the new kid from Philippines who was going to take Mechanical Engineering second year) who looked a bit giddy while leaning on the kitchen counter. He was tall and big, with a 90’s style haircut and very dark skin. Keith thought he seemed like a cool guy, polite and intelligent (and with a bit of a nervous streak). Lance had immediately hit it off with Hunk, both of them heavily into some cartoon that was popular in both countries. They stayed up chatting for a few days, like old friends who hadn’t seen each other in a long time. 

         Pidge had also seemed to get along quite well with Hunk, both very into methods of studying, bullet journaling and as Pidge would put it ‘the marvelous benefits of technology in our lives’ (they meant free anime streaming and Google Maps, Keith was pretty sure). The other two new residents of the floor hadn’t shown yet, and he envied them at the moment. 

         Hunk looked up and he grinned at Keith.

         “H-Hello!” 

         Lance’s head snapped up from Hunk’s chest and in a quick motion he hugged Keith. 

         “Bro! Bro, look at Hunk’s hands. Feel it. So soft, don’t you agree?” 

         If there was one thing that Keith did not enjoy was invasion of his personal space. It had been like that since pre-school and through all his life, with few exceptions like Shiro and his mother. Pidge too probably, if the kid wasn’t as much averse to being touched as Keith. 

        “Lance.”

        “Yeah?” 

        “If you don’t get off me in two seconds I will throw you on the floor.”

         The Brazilian youth gasped dramatically and let go of him, and in a second was hugging Hunk once again. For some reason, Keith felt a bit colder.

         “Did you see that, Hunk? He does not love me. Rude, mean. You call a guy cute and he goes around breaking your heart like this.”

         “Lance you never called me cute.”  _ I’d remember that.  _

         “Oh. Oh, well then. I love Hunk more than you anyway, ‘cause he’s soft and handsome _. _ ”

         Hunk, still pretty drunk but still had enough consciousness to blush and laugh, rubbing his neck. “C’mon Lance, let Keith breathe, wasn’t you who said that he was a cool guy?” 

         Lance stopped for a second and pondered. Keith moved on to his pantry and grabbed a package of biscuits. He sat on the counter and looked back at the duo who still haven’t moved on from the topic of Hunk’s soft hands. Their mindless chatter had an odd positive vibe and made Keith relax, deciding to prolong his stay in the kitchen a bit more by making some hot chocolate. Lance, distracted by the smell made a remark about Keith smelling like winter since he would continuously have a bit of chocolate powder in his clothes. It made him blush and angrily stutter an insult. Alcohol started to look like quite a nice idea at the moment. 

        “Lance, stop teasing him. Hot chocolate is sacred.” Hunk butted in and checked his phone. “Also if you wanna still get the free entrance to the glitter party we have to leave now.”

        “Ah, alright. C’mon let’s go then.” 

        And with that, both boys sobered up in a moment, adjusted the wrinkles in their clothes and grabbed their coats. 

        “See you later Keith!” Hunk grinned and Keith smiled back at him. 

        “Have fun, don’t puke on the DJ.”

        Hunk headed out and Lance stopped by a moment by the door. Keith raised an eyebrow at him, but he just stared back vividly. His eyes, usually squinted from laughter, were a bit widened and Keith couldn’t quite place the emotion on his face. 

        “LAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANCE!” 

        “Coming!” 

        He turned back again and grinned widely. 

        “I wish you had come with us.” And with a swift movement he was out of the door. “Catch’ya in the morning!” 

        Keith stared at the door, hand mid-air holding a biscuit. His whole face burned. What was that all about anyway.

  
  


        Fresher’s week also meant pharmacies would be overflowed with students looking for any sort of painkillers available. Keith passed by them in the city centre, many young people groaning and looking sort of half dead, with deep circles under their eyes and smelling nasty and rotten. The path back to the hall was quiet, since it was located nearby old houses, a cemetery and two houses for the elderly (one of the main reasons why they built another hall). He waved at some the two older ladies who lived a block down, tending to their garden. The street was beautiful, Keith loved the cold wind and the old trees surrounding even older buildings. The weather was perpetually rainy during this season and he was thankful for not being so this morning, making his life easier when lugging groceries back home. 

       He walked upstairs, whistling to the tune of one of Shiro’s classical songs. His brother had been in a concert band back in high school and Keith could probably sing along to the melodies of all the songs he played. Their mother had been a music theory teacher until two years ago, and had encouraged them to learn as many instruments as they could. Keith didn’t have that much interest in music but he did play the trombone for about three years. 

       The hall was surprisingly quiet around noon and he could hear Lance groaning a few times from his room, probably nursing a massive hangover. He put his shoes away and walked into the kitchen.

       “We should totally do it tomorrow, I have all the three ROMs for the games. They’re really cool.” Pidge was talking to Hunk while he made the best smelling pancakes Keith ever known. 

       “Hunk don’t let Pidge bully you into playing their weird games.” 

       “Earthbound is a great game! Great! And one day we will get Mother 3 officially translated and finally my soul will transcend. And also what are you even talking about, you Dark Souls heathen.” 

       “I mean, it does sound interesting, I’d love to play it.” 

       Keith shook his head. Nerds, all of them. He put away his groceries and listened to the other two occupants of the room talk about their favorite games. Hunk was truly passionate about farming and stealth games, and Pidge wouldn’t shut up about their favorite edgy and old japanese rpgs. They had played many of those together as children, hiding away with Matt’s Mega Drive and SNES even after the world had moved on to bigger things like CDs. There wasn’t much to do when you live in a neighborhood with a small number of kids and away from the city centre. 

      “Pidge’s sent Nintendo like, over a hundred emails about this already.” Keith informed Hunk, placing his bags on the counter. “Never got a reply though, even after all these years.”

      “Wow, that is true dedication.” Hunk whistled, flipping a pancake with mastery. 

      “One day, one day we will have it. And it will be all it was demanded.” 

      “Sure Pidge.”

      They settled into a comfortable silence, the noise from other floors and the stove resonating through the room. Hunk finished piling up the pancakes and offered Keith one, splitting the rest between his plate and Pidge’s. They all sat down to eat. 

      “What is this amazing smell  _ e _ can I have some?”

      The trio turned around to see Lance wrapped with a blanket and in a lousy football team t-shirt. Hunk smiled and got up to get another plate, while the Brazilian boy took the seat next to Keith and laid his upper body on the table, letting out a groan.

      “Hunk how are you still alive?” Lance’s voice sounded raw and his enunciation slurred.

      “Because unlike some people, I’m aware mixing tequila shots with whiskey is not a good idea.” The Filipino replied, placing the plate with a pancake in front of Lance, who said something they could only guess was a ‘thank you’. 

      “Let a man live. I was having a great time.”

      “Lance you were crying when the girl with blue hair rejected you.”

      “She was so hot though! Did you see her outfit? Those carmine suede boots man.”

      Pidge snickered and Hunk sighed. Keith’s stomach scrunched and suddenly he didn’t feel hungry anymore. He played with a pancake piece in his plate. Sensing the drop in the mood, Hunk quickly changed the subject, mentioning how cool the place was and the glitter cannons they had inside (Lance complained they played way too much pop rock songs, and not enough latin music. “How am I supposed to shake my ass to Artic Monkeys?”, he said). 

      “Anyway, society fair is on Monday, what clubs are you guys joining?” Pidge asked, filling a spoon with maple syrup.

      “I heard they have a D&D group which would be cool to join. Probably poetry society too.” Hunk said.

      “Probably gonna stick to last year, comic society and cryptology society.” Keith replied.

      Lance snorted and Keith gave him a glare.

      “I don’t even know what societies they have so probably whichever. Maybe I will join D&D too, that sounds cool.”

      “Really Lance, you playing D&D? I can’t wait to see that.” Pidge snickered. 

      “Leave my ass alone Holt, I came here to have a good time.” 

      “I thought you’d join football society.”

      “Oh I would. But I don’t know how to play.”

       Silence.

      “Lance. Aren’t you Brazilian?”

      “Keith, Keith, dear. Still so xenophobic.”

      “Uh. Sorry to interrupt.” A third voice said, and the four turned around to face the door. A tall girl with strong arms stood in the doorway. She had short red hair and droopy eyes. “My name is Shae, I’m in room 205. Nice to meet you.” 

      Hunk blushed and Lance grinned. 

      “C’mon in bro, we got pancakes. What course are you on? I love your hair by the way”


	4. Avisa As Amiga Que O Bonde Voltou

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> siblings  
> ah what complicated things

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> guess whos back from the dead meus amore lindinhos? ya that's right it's ya fav gal.  
> i havent written in a while and this chapter isnt betaed but hope u enjoy it anyways!!

             “Shae can you put some water for me too?”

             “Sure Lance, does anyone else want water?”

             “Nah.”

             “No.”

             “Not really, thank you Shae.”

             Lance gave Hunk a wink, while the boy buried his face deeper into behind his book. This had been on for three weeks now, courtesy of him accidentally letting it slip that he found Shae cute. They were all lounging around the kitchen, Hunk and Keith going over some class notes, Pidge working on their computer and Lance with his 3DS in hands. Shae stood by the kitchen counter, humming while scrolling on her phone. They’ve been set on working on class notes and readings but it didn’t take long for her and Lance to decide it was break time and promptly give them a thorough explanation on why he had never done homework before back home, his educational background didn’t allow him to focus on something for too long.

             Hunk and Lance poked each other back and forth, giggling silently to themselves.Not a month of knowing each other and you’d think they have been friends from the womb. Hunk’s responsible attitude and fun personality complemented Lance’s energetic and chaos inducing behavior in a way that made them seem very in synch. Which did not make Keith jealous at all. No. Their chemistry and how comfortable in each other’s presence did not make Keith roll around in bed for half an hour before falling asleep. It was because Lance insisted on leaving on playing the same ridiculous tone ( _It’s the opening of one of my favorite soap operas!_ ) until he fell asleep. Which Keith did not look up the meaning of the lyrics for.

             He looked up from his own notes as Shae handed Lance a mug with some hot tea. He had a warm aura around him, always drawing people in. And Shae was just as radiant, with a kind of badass old sister vibe in her leather jacket and messy red hair.  Keith grew fond of her over these past week, they bonded over their love of fingerless gloves and hot chocolate with honey. She was a Literature student, taking Computer Sciences as a hobby. He thought it was kinda sweet how Hunk swooned over her like it was his first crush. She seemed a bit oblivious to it, getting quite the eye rolls from both him and Pidge. Lance laughed about something she said and she ruffled his hair. Keith sighed, this was dumb and getting out of hand.

             “Keeeith, did you hear back from Rosa on the cryptid banner for society fair? Because I haven’t seen her in a while and she hasn’t replied to my e-mail yet.” Pidge whined, stretching their arms and yawning.

             “No, she has been missing for a while now. A true cryptid between us common folk.”

             “You guys are reeaaally weird you know?” Lance said, eyebrow lifted. Keith sent a glare his way and he recoiled, sticking his tongue out.

             “Says the person who joined the stitch and bitch society. You know that only girls attend that and it’s mostly to discuss feminist issues right?” Pidge snorted, putting away the tools they were using to fix a piece of hardware.

             “Yes and consider this: One, my grandma is an amazing sewer who taught me both knitting and cross stitching. Two, I might be interested in what the girls have to say.”

             Every head turned towards him with an disbelieved stare. Lance’s cocky grin dimmed to a fake hurt face. “I can’t believe you all would doubt my reasoning like this. Wow. I am truly hurt. Betrayed by these gringos I thought I could call friends.”

             “Lance you have tried to flirt with literally everyone whom as much as glanced your way these past weeks.” Pidge said. “Sorry for doubting that this wasn’t another scheme to get yourself a date.”

             They got up and walked past Lance onto the kitchen to make some tea, whilst the boy rambled on about he knew how to knit and it was a cool activity and helped to keep your brain working and you could make things for loved ones in a defeated manner. Shae patted his head and giggled as he moved on to sit next to Keith who was just blanking off, staring into space. Lance had maybe flirted with many people but that wasn’t hard when people confused your normal friendly behavior with something more. He sorta got that when he tried to kiss someone in the cheek as a greeting and got slapped. Some things just didn’t translate across cultures and people didn’t seem to get how hard some habits are to kill. He didn’t feel as lonely now as Hunk was a constant presence and both Keith and Pidge didn’t mind him just sitting outside their rooms’ to chat. Something he has been doing quite often.

             “Hey grandma, ya tea is getting cold.” Keith said, using his pen to point at the forgotten mug on the counter. Lance turned around and snagged it back. “Anyways, the choir is going to be doing auditions soon. Are you going to join Pidge? I’m sure Matt would love a video of that.”

             “Waaaaaaaait. What? You guys sing?” Lance snorted. Pidge responded by grunting and going back to attending an unfinished sandwiched left at the counter.

             “Pidge and I used to be in band together. They sing. I play. There is no big issue to it.” Keith muttered, ears flushed. Seeing the redness on his face made Lance’s grin growth, it suited his face, the embarrassed flush.

             “Keith’s mom is actually a music teacher so him and Shiro are music prodigies. Although I must say Shiro ended up being a better harmonica player than you.”

             “... I don’t care about the harmonica anymore anyway.”

             “L-i-a-r. I know you will hang over the this until the day we bury you six feet under.”

             “Harmonicas are cool though.” Shae added, sitting on top the couch and laying her feet next to Hunk’s note. “One of my dads used to play it and he was really good at it.”

             “Who is Shiro?” Hunk asked, looking up from his notes.

             “Ah, that’s uh- my brother. Him and Pidge’s brother are best friends, yeah.” Keith said in a awkward tone. “He’s turning 29 soon, they’re both living south. Working as teacher and stuff.”

             “I see.” Hunk agreed, nodding his head with a kind smile on his face. Keith knew he hadn’t meant to pry about a sensitive subject but his family situation was always something complicated to explain. There was always just too many questions, too many pity faces. He hated it. Him and Shiro used to be really close when they were younger. When Keith had just arrived. “It must be nice to have a sibling, someone who has got your back.”

            “Yeah, I guess.” Keith muttered, gaze far away. “Shiro is a good brother. He’s been doing quite well in the big city.”

            “Honestly Hunk, I have four siblings and let me tell you there is nothing cute about. It is absolute mayhem.” They both turned to Lance, who promptly interrupted them and dispersed the tense atmosphere. “Three girls and another guy. Camila and Joana are just devils. Both scorpios and always finding a way to assert their dominance over the entire family. Luís is ok, but that boy is a bad luck magnet and prone to all sorts of weird accidents. Like that one time his foot got stuck in the pool filter. Or that one time he accidentally ate clay. Or got his face smacked into the birthday cake. Anyways. And there is Maria Clara who is an angel sent from heavens and also who chewed all my socks. All of them. I used to have so many socks.”

           “Wow that sounds like a full house Lance.” Shae whistled. “I have an older brother who is a bit of an overprotective ass but we usually get along fine.”

           Speaking of family, of course Keith’s phone decided to ping this exact moment. A message from Shiro. _Call me when you’re not busy! Me and Matt have a surprise :)._ He furrowed his brows and quickly typed back _lol r u finally getting married._ He put the phone down as the others swarmed Hunk about the pros and cons of having siblings. Surprisingly, the pros list was considerably bigger than the cons. Lance’s eyes shined as he recalled some funny story about family trips to the beach and sharing the backseat with four kids and a dog. Keith’s stomach contracted and he cursed himself mentally. It was probably the expired cereal he ate. _Haha aren’t you always the comedian. No I got some cool news, Mom already knows._ His curiosity was piqued though. His mom would have always called to shared the gossip. Something sounded off. His phone pinged again. _Anyway how are things going with the brazilian boy_ _?_ _:- )._ Keith groaned and threw the phone at the couch and put his head on his hands while the others watched with some degrees of interest and worry.

           “Who was that?” Lance asked.

           “The devil.” The other replied, muffled by his sweater so it sounded more like ‘deaf refill’.

           “Alright then.” The brazilian boy gave him a weirded look and went back to his conversation with Hunk, who watched their exchanged.

           Keith looked up and glanced at Lance. Pidge giggled and he turned to them, who in turn wiggle their eyebrows in a suggestive manner towards Lance. He glared at them and scoffed. Pidge smirked, making eye contact with Hunk who definitely did not miss the silent conversation going on.

           “Was it Shiro?” Pidge sing songed in a high pitched tone.

           “Yes”

           “What did he want?”

           “No idea, said he ‘ad some news. To call him later.”

           “Oh!” Pidge exclaimed and the others turned to them. “Ooooooh about those news.”

           Keith frowned. So it did involve Shiro and Matt. And Pidge already knew.

           “What is it then?”

           “Nah man, you will have to call Shiro.” Pidge grinned and turned back to their computer, screwing the last of smalls corks and patting their laptop. “This is too good, I’m not going to get in the way of it.”

           They bickered back and forth until Hunk decided to take a nap and Shae went off to play video games in her own room. By then the sun it was already getting dark outside and the lazy Sunday afternoon coming to an end. The entire room had a orange purplish light. Pidge got up, stuck their tongue out and left the room, with some half assed excuse about updating their blog. The room was in a comfortable silence for a while, Lance had fallen asleep on top of the table and snored quietly. Keith kept finished his algebra homework and remembered about the phone left on top of the sofa. He stretched his arms to reach from his chair the phone charm and pull the entire thing up, careful to not wake the other boy up.

            He got up while the phone rang and heated up some milk in a mug. Shiro wasn’t much for surprises. Or fun. Or fun surprises. The phone rang twice more until the older man picked it up.

            “ _Hey there lil bro.”_

            “Hey, is everything ok?” Keith greeted him quietly. Shiro seemed happier than usual, there was a weird tone in his usual complacent voice.

            “ _Yeah, yeah. Matt is vacuuming the floor so you picked the best time to call. Since now I do not have to do it.”_

            “How ugly, using your younger brother like that Shiro. I thought you were the older one.” Keith joked, pouring an ridiculous amount of chocolate powder into his mug.

            “ _Whatever makes you feel better Keith.”_

            “So what is the big news?”

            “ _Well ok. Uh- First thing. You are not allowed to freak out.”_

           “Ah gee Shiro, now you don’t have me worried.” Keith muttered, rolling his eyes. He froze when Lance started moving and muttering. His chest rose and fell in a soothing rhythm and Keith thought he looked really warm and just so very relaxed. A nice change from hyperactive and bubbly Lance who rarely ever stopped to take a break.

            “- _soooo, what do you think_ _?_ _Are you cool with it”_

            “Uhh sorry Shiro, what was that?”

            “...” Shiro scoffed on the other end of the line. “ _What are you even doing not paying attention. I bet’cha watching with loving eyes that new guy in your dorm._ ”

            Keith blushed and gave an undignified quiet yell of shut up.

            “ _Fine. Well I was telling you how the university gave me an offer to back and teach. Triple digits per year. I could pay off Mom’s debt and half of my own tuition. So me and Matt are moving back if that is cool. I know Pidge and Matt already spoke and everyone is cool with it._ ”

            Keith went silent for a while. Him and Shiro living near each other again… That meant. Dealing with everything that had happened.

            “ _It is my decision and which is why I hoped you’d be ok with it._ ”

            He frowned. Ah that explained it. That was the Shiro he knew. Always making all the calls, projecting his own decisions on Keith. In the end he would move anyway and hope for the best. _It is for mom Keith, it would pay off all the debts. She would never have to struggle._

            “Yeah that is cool Shiro. Text me around when you’re coming back around. I gotta go now, bye.” He ended the call before his brother had a chance to reply. He looked down, this was just so much to process in one go. Of course that their mom had been working herself to pay for a debt of medical bills and Shiro getting a nice paying job would make things much easier. He had to be ok with it. It would be fine, he would just-

           “Hey dude” Keith looked up startled. Lance was in front of him, hand half reaching out for his arms. “You’re shaking. Is everything ok?” He asked, taking a small step closer, unsure of what to do, eyes still half lidded.

           Was he?

           He couldn’t begin to explain to Lance. He would give him the pitiful stare. The annoying condolences, the trying to be understanding but not really caring words. How could he explain to Lance what was going on. And then Lance touched his arm.

           “I don’t know what happened. Or whatever is gonna happen.” He started, looking directly into Keith’s eyes. “We don’t know each other that well and I know you find me annoying and whatever but-” he patted Keith’s arm twice and opened the most radiant smile the boy had ever seen. “Whatever you need I got you covered ok? I can’t have my rival being down like that.”

           Keith really wanted to cry. Everything was so much and now Lance with his dumb beautiful smile and him not prying and it was all too much. He kept looking at Keith, not with pity but with a kindness that could almost rivals Hunks. Waiting, patiently. “Your rival? Don’t make me laugh. You have to really work on it if you wanna compete Lance.”

           Lance gave his usual fake shocked face and Keith smirkied.

           They stayed in silence for a while, Lance moving on to grab some cold food from the fridge and Keith turned to his forgotten hot chocolate

           “Lance?”

           “Yeah?”

           “Thank you.”

 


	5. É De Noite Que A Gente Se Encontra

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> DOUBLE UPDATE to make up for the fact ive been so long.  
> keith and shiro have a long way of working with a very complicated family situation. 
> 
> lance has a mystery of his own?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> shiro was a teenager who didn't know how to deal with adult situations and keith was a confused child who was deeply hurt.  
> families are messy.

_What do you know about him anyway? You’re not even his kid!_

         He woke up in cold sweat. It had been a few weeks since his announcement and Keith had been laying in bed, struggling to fall asleep. His dreams all went to back day at the ER, Shiro yelling at him, their mom sedated  and Keith sobbing. He tried to forget, repress it deep down somewhere. Him and Shiro hadn’t always been good brothers. It seemed to Keith as if some things kept coming back no matter how long time had passed. It was always that moment where he felt truly alone.

         He sighed and got out of bed. His body was covered in sweat and the bed disheveled but Keith was not in the mood to shower at 3am knowing he could possibly wake up the others when they had a full morning on the next day. A glass of water however, seemed like a necessity. The entire floor was in silence save from the soft tune coming out of Lance’s bedroom. Keith stopped and frowned at his door. He was always so in tune with everyone and everything it tired Keith just thinking about it. But there was something envy worthy about how open and honest was about his feelings. How much he cared about everyone around him.

        Moving onto the kitchen he squinted at the fridge’s light and served a glass. And then three more. There was no point in stalling around in kitchen, he’d have to go back to sleep at some point. Homework to hand in, breakfast to have, notes to take. He quickly washed the glass on the sink and left it to Hunk’s kitten mug (shaped like the head of a cat!). Since the arrival of these guys he had felt less lonely. Pidge’s presence had always been comforting but technically speaking they were just two introverts who didn’t really deal with emotions quite well. He liked Hunk’s friendliness and how he fondly watched out for all of them, Shae’s jokes and don’t give a shit attitude but ‘ _don’t mess with my crew_ ’ vibe. And Lance. Lance who was everywhere, who was his self entitled rival and who seemed to understand people way more than he let on.

        Keith moved to the hallway and for some reason just stood outside Lance’s door, the tune still there. It was a song but also a prayer to time. He had looked it up in sheer curiosity, and the language sounded beautiful anyway. Of course he’d been too prideful to just ask Lance what the lyrics meant but in the end the Brazilian boy just game an explanation about it to all of the kitchen. His stomach fluttered again and he ignored it.

        “You know I can see your shadow through the space under the door, right?” Came a muffled voice from inside the bedroom. Suddenly his cheeks were aflame, this was beyond embarrassing. “Do you want to come in?”

        “No!” He exclaimed quickly. Lance probably didn’t realize what that could have sounded like. He heard some shuffling and a bump into the door.

        “Ok then, I’m here now. Sit. What is wrong?” Came a sleepy voice from the other side.

        Keith sat down and grunted. They both leaned into the wall, ear against it.

        “I...I don’t know.”

        “Do you not want to tell me? ‘Cause that is ok too.” Lance said softly, not meaning to pressure Keith into talking about something unless he felt comfortable doing so.

        “I...it’s just my brother you know.” Keith sighed. He wanted to tell Lance. He felt like he’d understand. Lance has been nothing but understanding in his weird way of being. “Like he hasn’t- We haven’t- There were hard times.”

        Lance didn’t reply and waited for him to continue on.

        “I’m adopted Lance.” He paused but the other boy didn’t say anything so he kept talking. “And my mom, Shiro’s mom, she got very sick. I hadn’t been with them for very long but I really loved them. It was really scary, as a kid. They didn’t know if she’d be ok. And then Shiro’s dad left.”

        He heard Lance shuffle. A few minutes of silence between them. Then he whisper softly ‘Go on if you want’. And Keith did.

        “Shiro he was trying really hard to be a good brother. He was just, smart and good at everything you know. And he wanted me to be as good. He didn’t understand why I was ‘too stubborn’ or not trying hard enough. I just wasn't like him. He got frustrated sometimes, and when his dad left mom got worse. And I blamed him. Because he was the older brother and he should have known how to fix this.”

        Keith felt the tears roll down his face. It was good, to get it out of his chest so he cried and Lance listened about Shiro’s breakdown. He had been as scared as Keith and how he yelled at Keith, blaming everyone and everything about what was happening. The time he told Keith he wasn’t truly part of their family. How when their mom got better Shiro really tried to make up. The guilt he felt and therapy and how much they tried to work again as a family. Lance listened without saying anything. "He isn't a bad person. He is my brother and he is very dear to me. We talk almost every day but dealing with him on a daily basis it- it just isn't very healthy for me." When he finished he had run out of tears and he heard the door creaking open and he almost fell backwards. If it wasn’t for Lance pulling him in a tight hug. 

        “I’m sorry you had to go through that.” He released Keith did the arm patting thing again. It was the thing he did when being serious.

        The solemnity of the situation was broken as Keith looked at his face mask.

        “I can’t believe you hugged me with shit on your face.”

        “It is a cacao mask you uncultured swine!” Lance scoffed, hiding his smile with a pout. “Maybe if you used it maybe you wouldn’t have those huge pores.”

         Keith laughed.

        Lance thought that this was his new favorite thing: making Keith laugh. He had a nice laugh.

         “I’m sorry to rant on you.”

         “Do you feel better?”

         “... Yes. Not completely but… you know.”  

         Lance got up and brushed invisible dust off his pajamas. Both boys rolled their eyes at each other and suddenly something dawned on Keith.

         “What are you doing up this late anyway, we both have class tomorrow.”

         Lance fidget and crossed his arms. “You need to be at least on level 4 of friendship to unlock my backstory.”

         Keith frowned and crossed his own arms “I just opened up to you, I thought we had a bonding moment.”

         From down the hall a voice yelled “GO TO BED YOU TWO!”

         “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Lance said, rolled his eyes. Then winked and slammed his door shut. “‘Night dumbass.”

         Keith smiled and shook his head, moving back to his own bedroom.

         Maybe he’d get some sleep after all.


	6. Chocolate com Pimenta

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> hi guys!!  
> i made a playlist to go along with this fic with some brazilian music: 8tracks.com/ametoshiba/avisa-a-ludmilla-que-e-hoje
> 
> this isnt beta'd so i might edit the grammar mistakes later. sorry in advance im half dead.

      Lance was good at many things, and quite bad at much more others. He bit his lip in deep focus, trying to put the thread in the needle’s hole. His presence had been incredibly welcome at the Stitch and Bitch society, his sewing and cross stitching skills awed everyone who stopped to watch him work. “They called me tailor in school because I really knew how to thread a needle” Lance had affirmed, smug smile on his lips, while he closed the hole in Hunk’s mustard sweater. Which he proceeded to double line to make it sturdier. So far everyone had their socks mended, t-shirts double lined, pants fixed. He did it quickly, after dinner while they all sat on the kitchen talking nonsense and played card or board games. 

      Currently he was sitting in between Keith and Hunk, finishing a cross stitch of the sun setting in the ocean. Both boys would even so often glance at his work and then share a look. Although he looked happy most of the time, doing anything sewing related gave him a relaxed look. Pidge slammed their hand down laughing as Shae passed them the black card from Cards Against Humanity. They were winning by an impressive hold of twelve black cards, Hunk following second with seven. Keith huffend and angrily took another card from the white pile, he was on last place, with his two black cards. Lance snorted when he looked up from his masterpiece to check on the game. No one seemed to see the shift in the attitude towards each other. Whilst Lance still would dramatically call Keith his rival, frowning and pointing at him, there was also a new air of similar to intimacy in their respect. They haven’t spoken about the subject of Shiro since that night and neither did Keith press on the fact he noticed Lance didn’t sleep much nowadays. There was only so much his face masks could cover. 

      “And the Academy Award for blank goes to blank.” Hunk read the card and the others quickly shuffled through their cards. Lance looked up and in a swift motion grabbed two from Keith’s hand and passed it on Hunk. Keith gave an indignant half exclamation and Lance just smirked and said ‘trust me’. Shae was the last one to pass on the cards, a confident smile on her face. Both her and Hunk redded up as their hands briefly touched. “Ok, let’s see now.”

      “And the Academy Awards for the homosexual agenda goes to the holy bible.” Hunk snickered and the others snorted and giggled. “Ok this one is good. Next, let’s see. And the Academy Awards for public ridicule goes to Nickelback, Pidge. We get it, you hate them.” Shae laughed out and Pidge chuckled. 

      “Ok, last one up is ‘And the Academy Awards for cybernetic enhancements goes to teaching a robot to love’ oh my god Keith.” They were full on laughing now. Keith’s ears turned beet red and Lance hysterically laughed while trying to cover his mouth. “I chose yours. Here.” He passed along the black card while the boy hid his face between his arms. 

      This went on for a bit longer until they all retired to bed. Keith laid on his bed as he heard from Lance’s wall the old springs of the bed complain as he tossed around. This frustrated him to no end, he had not been an open person in the past and emotions were not his straight but had always cared a lot about people around him. Some might not understand his way of showing that but he had grown up with the notion of how small everyone was in this universe that people’s problems always seemed so small. It took him a while to fall asleep and even then Keith wasn’t so sure if Lance, although quieted down, had fallen asleep. 

      Pidge had noticed the shift in him, they had been best friends since a young age and there was very little Keith could hide from them, even if the opposite did not happen. The next morning when they left for their 8am class, both walked in silence for a while, the chilly breeze of early december. The city was still awakening, vendors opening their shops and some younger students in their school uniforms waited for the bus. 

      “So. Matt called again, they have decided to wait until mid-january to move. Shiro wants to sort out some of the living arrangements, Matt said he’s been worried since you barely reply to his texts.” Pidge said, crossing their arms behind their back and glancing at Keith, who tensed his grip on the strap of his bag. “I’m kinda worried too you know.”

      Keith looked down, this hasn’t been the way he expected his Monday morning to go. 

      “It’s ok if you don’t have all the answers right now. I mean you guys had your differences but you know we all care very much about you. Since the day you walked through that door, you’ve been my annoying sibling, slash neighbor, slash partner ever since.” Pidge continued, kicking a stone across the road. They both watched it hit a trash can on the other side. “This whole emotion talk is not my thing, it’s not your thing, it’s none of our brothers’ thing. But I hope you’re ok and that you ask for help if you need.” 

      “Thank you Pidge.” Keith said and looked back at the shorter nerd. They were right, none of them had been particularly good at handling feelings in very particular ways but Pidge had always a honest yet blunt way of offering comfort. “I’m going to be fine. I swear.” 

      “I’m glad.” Pidge nodded and opened a mischievous smiles. “So what is between you and Lance and this whole side glances going on?”

      Keith took a surprised misstep and almost fell on a passing by mother with a stroller, who in turn glared at him and muttered something about university students and their lack of civility. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

      Pidge snorted as they stopped for a crossing. “Ah yes, and my name is Elizabeth Bethany, ex-bank robber.” 

      “I’m serious.” Keith blushed. “But… I guess I’m a bit worried. It’s really hard to fall asleep when he spends the entire night rolling around in those noisy beds.” 

      “Huh. He doesn’t seem the type.” Pidge wondered, as they both started walking again. “Maybe something happened back at his home. It can’t be easy leaving an entire life behind and moving somewhere where you don’t really know anyone.” 

      “Probably.” Keith sighed. They walked the rest of the way in silence. The campus building they were on was very old, and tired students lounged and took naps on the main lobby room. They both said quiet goodbyes and moved on to their respective classrooms. It was a cold quiet day, liminal. Nothing particularly exciting happened, the morning went on, they met with Shae for lunch and went to the Cryptid Society meeting in the afternoon (their society leader was still missing, without replying to any e-mails) and then onward back home. Pidge wanted to go grocery shopping, so they separated and Keith and Shae walked home together, making some small talk about their days and assignments. 

      Keith opened the door to their dorm and they quietly made their way upstairs, Shae heading straight to her room at the beginning of the hallway. Keith tapped his jacket pockets trying to figure out where his other key was (Hunk had given him a key-chain, stressed out about Keith having four separate keys but the boy did not listen) when he heard it. Keith had been a discreet crier most of his life, mostly because he didn’t want to be bothered in those moments, but also because he felt a bit embarrassed about the entire thing too. What surprised him was that Lance, apparently was a quiet crier too. He froze unsure of what to do, Lance had clearly not heard him arrive and opening the door would alert him of Keith’s presence. Maybe he didn’t want to speak to anyone. But something was definitely not right. With unsure steps he laid his bag next to his door and tapped once on Lance’s door.

      The sound stopped for a second. 

      “Yeah? Who’s there?” Came his voice from the door. They seem to be doing this a lot lately. He was trying really hard to sound ok it seemed.

      “It’s Keith.. Uh I.” Oh this had been a bad idea alright. His hands were sweating and he had no idea what to say. He couldn’t just go and ask why he was crying. “I kinda don’t get this thermo exercise from lecture today and uh…”

      Lance brusquely half opened the door and Keith was faced with his reddened eyes, Lance’s entire body wrapped in a duvet, Mary the Virgin style. He gave Keith a blank stare. “This was the most ridiculous excuse I’ve ever heard my entire life dude.” 

      Keith stammered some more excuses and Lance opened a small smile. He hadn’t expected anyone to be home right now. Keith stopped and they stared at each other. Then Keith crossed his arms and huffed. “Ok yeah, as if I’d need your help with work.”

      “Oh Keith, Keith dude.” Lance said, opening the rest of the door and leaning against the frame and lowering in a little. Keith hadn’t realized how much taller he was than him. Maybe around ten, fifteen centimeters. “If you wanna say something.” He leaned in a bit closer.  _ Too close.  _ “Just say it.”

      Keith inhaled sharply, he hated how much the other boy got on his nerves. Well, he’d taste his own medicine now. “I know you haven’t been sleeping well. You look like crap, you sleep during the day. You were crying Lance.”

      Lance was taken aback by his sudden honesty stayed silent for a while, in shock. Keith waited, a bit worried since Shae could listen if Lance decided to start yelling or cause a scene. Lance looked down and sighed. 

      “Do you wanna come in?” He offered at last. “I just made tea, and there is an extra mug we can split.” 

      “Sure.” Keith hesitated, a bit unsure where this was going. They both went inside and Lance threw his books that were on the bed onto the floor. The poster collection had grown, some new game ones, a huge Saint Seiya one in place where the football one used to be. On his walls now hanged a seashell decorated coat hanger. There were succulents he’d never mentioned before on his windowsill. The entire room smelled like sea, and there more pictures on his desk and cabinet. Lance had created an entire home out of this room, it couldn’t possibly be that they were still in that old moldy dorm. His computer was open on YouTube, some singer Keith could never recognized and an abandoned essay. He sat down on the bed and Lance claimed his spinney chair. He did split the tea and passed on a Naruto mug on to Keith. They sat in silence for a second. Keith, who had looking was looking down since he received the mug, opened his mouth and in that moment, Lance started crying again. 

      There was no sobbing, just tears falling off his eyes. Keith looked at him wildly, like an animal caught in car lights: unsure what to do. Lance then started laughing, quite loudly and uneven. “Oh my god you should see your face. You look like you just saw you grandma naked or something.”

      “Can you blame me You’re the one who just randomly start acting like- like this!” Keith retorts, gesturing to Lance. 

      "It's ok." Lance said and cradled the mug in his hands. "I'm just a bit homesick you know, maybe the weather is getting to me."

      That was something Keith could relate to, he had missed being home very much so during his first year. The people who lived in the dorm were quite boring and he hadn't made many friends besides in the Cryptic Society. It was a bland days that turned into bland weeks, and then months, which just became a bland year. His grades were ok. He was excited for summer. But Lance was different, he was too much a people's person. 

      "Everyone here is so. Different. I don't like it, I don't like having to stand a feet away from people, I don't like being called rude for speaking in my normal volume, I don't like how people are so sensitive but rude at the same time." He went on, a faraway look on his eyes. "They don't put themselves in your shoes, they don't understand how lonely it is to be the only person in the room who is constantly tired of having to adapt to people without them even sparing you a second glance unless it's to tell you off." Lance spun around twice on his chair and took a few sips. "I mean I love the friends I made here so far, you guys have been so cool about everything but, still, it's isolating. I'm tired I think."

      The room was in silence for a few minutes. Keith processed over what Lance said. So Pidge hadn't been far off from the truth but they haven't been aware of how much pain and stress this was causing Lance. "It must be very hard." Keith muttered, glancing at the brazilian boy. 

      "Yes it is." Lance agreed with a sad smile on his face. Their small moment was ruined by Hunk's face popping up in the room. "Hey Lance the songs you wanted to- Oh! Hi Keith." He said, a bit taken aback by his presence in the room. "I didn't know you were here."

      "I was just leaving." He hushed to put the mug on the small cabinet next to Lance's bed and get up. 

      "Oh no! Stay, it's fine. Lance was gonna show me some songs he thought I might like." Hunk smiled, already making himself comfortable in the bed, also carrying his own Dragon Ball mug. 

      "É ta tranks." Lance said something that only god knew. Sounded like an affirmative. So Keith stayed. 

      They spent the rest of the evening eating snack and listening to Brazilian music provided by Lance's computer. Keith liked most of them, specially the ones with one particular accent ("It's from the Northeast" Lance had snickered. "It is kinda cute though.") and the upbeat rhythm. He could almost picture the other boy back at his house, the pictures of his place and family from surrounding walls painting a picture of him dancing with his sisters, maybe his mom and dad. A warm day filled with food and joy, and Lance right there in their midst. Hunk had gotten up and danced around, making the other two laugh. Pidge had stopped by and stayed for a while, bringing them some sweets and very interested in the pop-funk as Lance had called it.They were catchy.  _Just like him. Its him if someone could turn people into music._ Keith thought, becoming a bit sleepy. 

     He and Hunk left after a while, both very drowsy and a bit tired. That night there were no squeaking springs complaining, only a soft tune playing that involved the entire floor like fog in the morning. 


	7. Chupa Cu de Goianinha

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> chupa cu de goianinha aparece e o povo vai a loucura
> 
> ok. ive been told susmaryosep its an actual thing from my filipina coursemate but shes been living in the uk for fourteen years now i hope its still a thing

      In Brazil people are incredibly superstitious, be it folklore or religious wise, it is a known fact. Grandmas will advise their kids to not broom over their feet in case they want to get married, carry a small picture of Santo Expedito and he will help you find what you seek, things like that. Some are a bit weirder, some are a bit funnier. Maybe a culture founded in such things is what led the whole nation to have some of the bizarre happenings and create the phrase ‘O melhor do Brasil é o brasileiro’. Lance grew up in such environment and believed in all these things, he would not take chances with the supernatural or bizarro.

      His legs carried him as fast as he could, and to the few students who were having lunch or just chilling on the entrance of the university’s building all stared as the lanky boy almost slipped and fell multiple times, rushing ahead to the stairs. Lance climbed three steps at a time and after passing by some doors and avoiding bumping into people he stopped at a door that read FH116. He took a deep breath, opened the handle and his legs gave away, making him fall flat faced on the carpeted floor.

      “Of all things we expected in cryptid society” A young sounding voice stated from above him. “You were not on the list Lance.”

      “Thanks for the love Pidge.” He whined, turning to lay on his back. Pidge was sitting closest to the door, laptop open and a juice box on hand. They weren't even looking at him. Next to Pidge, Keith was standing, pencil still on notebook and hair in ponytail, looking exasperated at Lance. The room was covered in graphic posters of different myths and cryptids and aliens. Besides them three, another girl with blonde pigtails sat, not bothering to even look up from the book she was reading.

      Keith walked up to him and rolling his eyes, offered his hand for Lance, who took it and rose graciously, patting his clothes for dust. “What are you doing here anyway?” Keith asked, crossing his arms. Lance opened his mouth and stared at him. _Damn he looks cute with that ponytail. What the hell. Ah no F O C U S Lance._

      “I uh… There was a reason.” They all looked at him now, brows arched and frowns set. “What- OH YEAH! I HAVE A CRYPTID FOR YOU!”

      The silence that followed lasted a few seconds. Lance sweated. It was all broken when Pidge sighed, pulled their glasses away and cleaned them with their shirt. Keith moved back to his seat and checked his phone. “It's true! It's been on CNN news!” The Brazilian boy quickly searched his pocked and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper and slammed it on the table, his eyes narrowing. “It has been seen all over central Brazil and it is called…. The suck-ass.”

      Many things happened at the same time. The girl let her book fall, Keith tripped while turning to stare at him and Pidge froze. This seemed to be happening quite frequently today. All members of the Cryptid Society looked at each other. As enthusiasts, they couldn't really refuse new information on any kind of cryptid. But as fellow human beings, could they really take him seriously? The true answer was questionable.

      Keith grabbed the printed picture. He pulled an empty chair and motioned for Lance to sit. The latter hesitated and then joined in, while Keith opened his phone and handed it to him. “I’m sure suck-ass isn’t its actual name. Type it in portuguese.” Lance did so and the browser loaded 15.100 results. Keith glanced at him. “See I wasn’t lying.” He muttered handing the phone back to it’s owner. Pidge scooted over and joined Keith skimming through some youtube videos and news articles. Ten minutes passed by, fifteen, twenty. The room was eerily quiet, in the kind of silence that almost felt unnatural, making Lance incredibly uncomfortable. Keith and Pidge hadn’t stopped looking at the results, using Google to translate things they didn’t understand. After about forty minutes had gone by, they looked at each other and turned to Lance.

      Pidge fixed their glasses again. “Lance, from now on you will attend all sessions until we have this info all translated. Our sessions are every tuesday between half one and half three, and saturdays between seven and ten in the morning.”

      “Wait what- I don’t want to join you guys.” He protested, backing away from Pidge and accidentally bumping into Keith.

      “Lance.” Came his voice, now soft and Lance turned around, face inches from Keith’s, whom had put a gloved hand on his shoulder. Lance blushed, seeming to be the one aware of their proximity. “You understand this is brand new. We need access to all data you can help us get. Think about all the things we can do with this knowledge.” He almost wavered. “This suck ass is brand new content and we must win.”

      Lance blinked twice at Keith’s passionate expression. “Win… what exactly? You got me a little confused there buddy.” The boy inched even closer, grasping now both of his arms.

      “Against the competition obviously. The other cryptid clubs. If we get this all sorted out… Our next newsletter will put us at the top of universities ranks for cryptid societies. We will be reaching out so many people Lance, imagine that. All over the country. Begging us for more information.”

      “Woah woah there, ok. First of all” Lance interjected, freeing his arms. “You are aware I’m not the only Brazilian person around right? Second, I’m not interested in you ranking competition whatever. Third, I came here just to tell you, and now I’m gonna take my leave before this gets weirder. See y’all at home. Fui.”

      Before Keith and Pidge could react he was out of the door. Well that had been an interesting meeting.

      “Your friend is really weird.” The pig tails girl said, snickering behind behind her hand. Pidge sighed and turned to what little they had transcribed from the news. Keith’s gaze stayed on the door for a few more moments before going back to his seat and grumbling he sat down. “So how long has him and you been together Keith?”

* * *

  


      Lance kicked a pebble, distracted by his own thoughts of Keith, their dumb Cryptid Society, the horrible weather out today. This had clearly been a backfired plan on trying to become closer to Keith. He had gone out of his way to find things that they were both interested in to maybe, just maybe, get to spend more time with the shorter boy. It wasn’t like they didn’t, sharing a flat meant a lot of time spent together, but there were always others and it was such a generalized conversation. And it wasn’t like he could just. Ask Keith out? That was definitely out of question, he probably wasn’t even interested anyway.

      He stopped at the crossing and a cold breeze made him shudder. _Dumb boy, dumb weather, dumb country. Dumb me._ It wasn’t even winter yet and he dread what was coming. It wasn’t like his mom constantly sending him pictures from the beach making it any better. Thinking about home made him think about Keith again, the other day when the boy comforted him about his homesickness. Lance had friends who were bad with handling emotions or socializing before and hadn’t expected Keith to be such a good listener. _He’s so short tempered and quick to jump at anyone._ Lance grinned and kept walking on the path back home. He stopped by the small market on the way and bought some things Hunk had asked for the flat: dishwashing liquid, toilet paper and paper towels. It was a great convenience having such thing so close to home. He quickly grabbed everything and paid, wishing the cashier a nice day and shoving his wallet in the backpack. The ladies on the garden waved at him, seeming unbothered by the wind and light rain.Lance loved them both from day one, when he was lost and couldn’t find his building. He had sat on the middle of the road and cried, it was already dark and he never felt so hopeless. Seeing such a distraught sight, they took him into their house, gave him cake and made him a coffee. The tallest, Asami, had gone through his university documents, trying to find something about an address. This was a popular area for student rental so they weren’t sure where to knock and Lance had been in such panic he could barely speak or understand English. The other one, Korra, tried to make light conversation with him, letting him play with their dog.

      In the end they managed to get him to his dorm and made sure he came check on them if he needed anything. He had returned the next day, with flowers he bought from that same market. It had been a nice weekend. Keith would arrive on that Sunday. This seemed so long ago when it truly only had been a few months. He truly cherished all his flatmates. On the night before he flew he had been an anxious mess, crying and attached to his mother. “ _You will see Lance. You’re a beautiful boy with such a golden heart.”_ She had said, crying too, messing with his hair. “ _I can feel it, you will live an amazing adventure. There is something important waiting for you out there my son._ ”

      “Maybe you were right after all manhê.” He smiled, opening the flat’s door and climbing up the stairs. Hunk was in the kitchen, a mug on one hand and a book on the other. Shae was humming quietly to herself while typing away, her head leaning on his shoulder. Both their faces were red and they seemed unaware of Lance’s presence. The Brazilian boy quickly whipped his phone out and took a picture. He backed off and loudly opened the door again, giving both a few seconds to change positions if they wanted.

      “OH! Ah! Hi, um. Hi Lance.” Hunk said, quickly getting up and rubbing the back of his head. Shae scrambled as humanly far away as possible on the couch.

      “Hello to my dear favorites.” Lance sang while putting the groceries await. “Did I interrupt something?”

      “Ah- No-o nothing. Hunk was just. Helping me, with some homework yeah.” She quickly replied, closing the laptop and getting up to move towards the dining table. “How was at the Cryptid Society?”

      “Oh it was ok. Those guys are really weird, no idea how we live with them.” Both Hunk and Shae looked at each other, his voice sounded strained, something weird was going on. “Anyway the weather outside is horrible, I refuse to leave the flat again.”

      “I see.” Hunk replied, and leaned got up to move towards the kitchen space. “By the way, a letter came in for you and me both. I was waiting for you to arrive so we’d open it.”

      “Who is it from?”

      “It’s from the head of the Engineering Department. Hold on.”

      “I’m holding.”

      “ _Dear blah blah blah…. Between all illustratious students in your course…. blah blah blah… You’ve both been chose for the program of mentorship with PhD. Doctor Coran Hieronymus Wimbleton Smythe. Congratulations and we hope you both show-_ Susmaryosep.”

      “Meu Deus do Céu. Hunk slap me.”

      “No."


	8. Vocês Achavam Que Eu Tava Na Pior Mas Tava Só Na Bad Mesmo

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i got no excuses for this absence  
> hi im not dead  
> i just couldn't stop listening to the digimon eliana videoclip and stuck on a loop for a few months
> 
> but in all seriousness this is super short and i havent written in months i hope yall stay cool <3
> 
> pros meus brother da pátria amada só deus me salva agora fiquem na fé  
> soundtrack:  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geFj_kMvasQ  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePjtnSPFWK8

    Hunk fumbled with the hem of his wool sweater, fingers in constant twitching motion as he sweated. Him and Lance, whom had also worn a somewhat fancy striped blue shirt and tailored pants that all were shocked to find he owned, both stood outside a wooden door. They didn’t really get to visit this part of the university often, it was reserved for research and doctorate students. Everything looked way more fancy, serious and well-kept. Doctor Coran’s office was located in the west wing, fourth floor, room number 420 (Lance and Pidge laughed about that). The entire morning had been hectic for their flat, Shae and Keith made them all breakfast, Pidge helping both get their fanciest casual fancy clothes ironed and free of pet fur. Both Hunk and Lance had been so nervous that they almost accidentally set the bathroom on fire and opened a hole on the kitchen wall. Before they left, Shae brought out of her room two potted succulents with bows on them ( “It is a congratulatory gift!”) and Keith briefly gave each a hug while Pidge saluted them.  
    Although they all usually walked to university, today they had taken the bus to avoid any issues and sweat. It was an anxious ride, and a rare sight seeing them quiet in concentration through the whole ride. Lance mindlessly played with a red hair band in his hand, Keith had discreetly shoved into his palm muttering it was a lucky gift through the entire way. Standing in front of Dr. Coran’s door now, he rubbed the back of his head, hair grown a bit.  
    “Should we… knock?” Hunk asked pointing at the door.  
    “I guess…” Lance muttered and motioned to step forwards when they heard an explosion and the floor shook.  
    “OH! QUIZNACK!”  
    They jumped as the door slammed open and a figure came out of the smoke. A ginger haired man around his forties repeatedly thumped on his chest, coughing. His hair was neatly combed back and he sported a thick moustache. Hunk quickly helped him out by gently slapping his back.  
    “Thank you, thank you! These machines can be quite the bull to handle. Sorry to have scared you to bits young men.” His accent reasoned strong (and as Lance would be informed later, was new zealander.) and he carelessly waved swatted his arms around, trying to disperse the leftover smoke in the air. “Oh! You must be the young men I’ve heard so much about. Quite impressive files I must say. And very sensible, five minutes early. Come in, come in!”  
    Both rushed inside, as Coran spoke about the uttermost respect he had for international students, who would sacrifice comfort in the journey to seek knowledge. He motioned two chair that had been cramped up next to a massive desk in a corner and they sat. Lance decided he liked Coran already.  
    “Thank you so much for this opportunity Mr.-” Coran immediately crossed both arms in an X-formation and interrupted Hunk.  
    “Oh please, no Mister here. These formalities in academia, I’m not a fan of.” He sat down in the other chair by the middle of the desk, grabbing a pen and passing along some documents for them. “I do however need you to both sign these NDAs. My work is currently one of the reasons the Mechanical Engineering department is able to get so much government funding and they weren’t quite happy with choosing you guys over our own national students. Please feel free to read this through over or consult with a legal agency if you wish. No offense intended, but sadly knowledge is yet to a shared heritage for all of humanity.”  
    Lance and Hunk both skimmed over the contract, although neither had enough legal knowledge to make out most of it. Hunk had a pensive look while fiddling with the corners of this page.  
    “Of course, as mentioned in the application, this hours put towards my research will be counted as credit and any over-time required of you will be considered hired help which you will be paid for. You will also be credited as assistants for what you work in.” Coran twisted the left end of his moustache while smiling. “Personally I’ve looked through about three hundred files of students and I’d be quite disappointed not working with the ones who clearly would be the best fit but I can understand your reservations.”  
    Lance blushed a bit, oddly silent but also flustered about the compliment. “So if we all agreed on term how many hours weekly will we be putting in your research?”  
    “Hmm… I’d say about fifteen to twenty.”  
    “That sounds good to me.” Hunk said. “Would it be ok for me to get a copy of the contract to be read over by someone who knows about legal stuff?”  
    “Yes, that would be absolutely fine. Please feel free to take it. I’d like to show you more about what I have been working on but sadly that is under the NDA.” Coran sighed and turned to Lance, who had been oddly quiet. “What about you young man?”  
    “I’d like to wait for Hunk’s response.” He replied in a serious voice, so unnatural that Hunk looked surprisedly at him. “After all, I believe we’d work much better together and I also just want to be sure about the legal side of this.”  
Coran grinned at the two boys. He had chosen them based off professors’ letters of warnings, opposed to recommendations. They both had impressive files and so far the work they presented was intriguing, rather than just accepting what was taught they were more interested in seeing things from other angles and that kind of thought was that helped science make discoveries every day. ‘Separate, they present adequate knowledge to pass but together both refuse to adopt traditional methods of problem-solving and generate more trouble than good.’ Now watching both deep in thought, swallowed in the leather chairs, he was sure he’d made the right choice.  
    “Very well then boys. I shall wait eagerly for you responses.” He said, Hunk and Lance getting up to shake hands with him, thanking him for his time. “The pleasure is mine. Please do not keep a man waiting for very long.”  
    And with a final good-bye they were out of the door, not talking. Passerbys watched as the two almost numbly floated to the bus stop.     
    “Hey Lance.”  
    “Yeah?”  
    “I can’t feel my legs.”  
    “Me neither.” A nervous laughter. “Please don’t fall I’m weak.”

    All the way back home, both students have had probably the most embarrassing trip of their lives, as neither could stop hysterically laughing slash crying and Hunk accidentally ripped a piece of his sweater. When they finally arrived at the flat’s kitchen Lance threw himself on the couch (almost crushing Pidge who jumped with a small cry) and screamed onto a pillow. Hunk just went to the cupboard to grab his hidden stash of White Rabbits and popped two in his mouth.  
    “That bad?” Pidge asked, moving to the other couch where Shae sat cross-legged, oblivious to the boys’ return and nose-deep into a book.  
    Lance moaned again in the pillow and turned around to give Pidge a pointed look. Keith who was in the midst of finishing up the monstrosity of dish he called Cheesy Fries With All Condiment (consisting of fries, cheddar cheese and at least either different types of sauces from mayo to korean bbq sauce) and frowned, grabbing his plate and moving to sit on the armrest of the couch Lance laid in.  
    “Can’t have been that bad.” He said, shoving a handful of fries in his mouth.  
    “It wasn’t bad. I was just nervous.” Lance muttered, hugging the pillow. “He was a very nice guy.”  
    Keith snorted and avoided Lance’s foot which he had so graciously decided to shove in his face. Hunk sat down and Pidge patted his back, both holding their own small conversation. He went on to explain and about the NDA and legal contracts that they’d have to sign. The others listened with a solemn look on their faces.  
    “Coran was a really nice guy though, I think he knows his shit.” Lance said after Hunk was done talking, attempting to indiscreetly steal one of Keith’s fries that was covered in the weid glob of sauces. “Not to mention that it’s the kind of experience you don’t get everyday to put in your resumé.”  
    “So you’re going for it?” Shae questioned.  
    “If the legal bit checks out yeah of course.” Lance shrugged.  
    “I’m gonna send this to my mom, she is a lawyer and can tell if anything needs to be altered.” Hunk said waving the massive folder like a fan. “He doesn’t seem like the kind of guy that would screw us over.”  
    The others nodded in agreement. Time passed slowly after that, with all inhabitants of the flat carrying on their tasks normally on again. Both succulents given by Shae sat by the windowsill, the street lights bouncing and it’s orange hues creating a cozy atmosphere inside. Pidge typed away the Cryptid Society’s newsletter, Hunk and Lance playing Mario Kart on his Switch and Keith focused in his book. Shae had already retired for the evening, her homework piled up from neglect. Seemed like it’d just be another very regular evening for this group.  
    But we all know that peacer never lasts for very long now, don’t we?   
    A buzzing noise caught everyone’s attention.


End file.
